Thursday, May 22, 2008

Aaron showed me a photo today on Pitchfork that brought me much delight.

It's a picture of my fav band in the whole wide world, the Decemberists! (mmmmm...Colin Meloy on the far left...). Oh yeah, and Barack Obama is in the middle.

((angels singing))

This photo was posted on Pitchfork and was taken at an Obama rally that took place recently in Portland. This rally hauled in over 75,000 spectators, which blows away Obama's previous rally record of 35,000. Man, I would have loved to be able to attend that event.

Anyway, the thing that inspired me to write about this at 10pm on a school night is the actual article that went along with this photo. You can read it in its entirety here, but basically the article talks about how some Conservatives are downplaying the enormity of this event, stating that "The assumption here, of course, is that the Decemberists played a significant part in enticing those 75,000 people out to that lovely park on that sunny spring day, and that the Times and other "liberally biased" media outlets somehow conspired to ignore the band's presence in order to make Obama look better."

Amusing.

And then, at the end of the article, there is a reference to a piece on the obviously conservative site The Campaign Spot that suggests that the Decemberists are nothing more than a bunch of Communists.

Oh no you didn't. I know you didn't just call my favorite band in the world, a talented group of musicians whose music speaks to my soul a bunch of Commies. I know you didn't do that.

I could go on and on about how this is just another instance of Conservatives tossing around words that evoke negative reactions and emotions for some in order to frighten those people into their movement. Here is their logic: Barack Obama had this group of Commies open for him at his rally, so by default, he must be ONE OF THEM too. But, I won't get too high up on that soap box right now.

But, you picked on my band. I am shaking my fist at you. It is sooooo on.